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Quote1 I will... miss you, Scott. Quote2
Professor X

Appearing in "Elegy"

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Synopsis for "Elegy"

X-Men past and present attend the graveside rites for their fallen team mate, Jean Grey. Jean's grieving parents and sister attend as well. As Scott listens to the eulogy, he thinks back over the years of his relationship with Jean Grey.

He recalls the earliest days of the X-Men and how, when Jean first joined the team, they were all in love with her. He then recalls the team's first battles with Magneto,[1] Vanisher,[2] and the Blob,[3] the formation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,[4] and the X-Men's subsequent clashes with them.[5].

Scott's recollections range over the course of the X-Men's history: how distant he felt isolated from his teammates when Professor X briefly put him in charge of the school and how Warren began pursuing a relationship with Jean,[6] their encounter with Ka-Zar in the Savage Land,[7] the encounter with the Stranger that saw the defeat of their old enemies Magneto and Toad,[8] and their battles against the Juggernaut[9] and the Sentinels.[10].

In quick succession, he recalls battles against the likes of Mimic,[11] Count Nefaria,[12], the Locust,[13] Kulculkhan,[14] Banshee,[15] the Super-Adaptoid,[16] Warlock,[17] and Cobalt Man. He thinks back to how Warren's eventual relationship with Candy Southern cleared the way for Scott and Jean to pursue their own relationship.[18]

The threats would continue to come, however, with the return of Juggernaut (whom they defeated with the aid of Dr. Strange[19]), their battle with Tyrannus and the Mole Man,[20] their first encounter with Spider-Man,[21] Mekkano[22] and the ongoing war against Factor Three,[23] which ended with a graduation and the group getting unique costumes.[24]

Scott remembers the day they fought Grotesk,[25] a battle that saw the seeming demise of Professor X[26] and the temporary government-ordered dissolution of the X-Men. He recalls a non-stop whirlwind of adventures such as saving Lorna Dane from Mesmero and a Magneto robot,[27] rescuing his brother Alex from the Living Monolith,[28] stopping Larry Trask's Sentinels,[29] and battles with Sauron,[30] Magneto and his Savage Land Mutates,[31] and the Japanese mutant Sunfire.[32]

He then recalls how the very much alive Professor X resurfaced to prevent an invasion from the alien Z'Nox[33] and how Hank quit the team and was mutated into his more furry form.[34]

Scott's mind then focuses on the formation of the new X-Men to save the old team from the mutant island Krakoa,[35] and their first mission against Count Nefaria[36] that ended with Thunderbird's death.[37] He recalls the capture of Jean and several X-Men by Stephen Lang's Sentinels[38] that would lead to the rebirth of Jean as Phoenix,[39] battling the threats of Black Tom and Juggernaut,[40] the return of Magneto,[41] the arrival of Empress Lilandra[42] and how Phoenix saved the universe from destruction by stabilizing the M'kraan Crystal,[43] and their battle with Weapon Alpha.[44]

He recalls how their abductions by Mesmero[45] and Magneto[46] would lead Scott and Jean to each believe the other dead. Scott and the X-Men would go on to help save the Savage Land from Sauron[47] and Garrok,[48] then Japan from Moses Magnum.[49] The X-Men would again clash with Alpha Flight in Canada[50] over Wolverine.

While Cyclops and the X-Men were battling Arcade, Scott recalls, Jean was being secretly seduced by their old foe Mastermind.[51] He remembers their clash with Proteus[52] and how the team - now reunited with Phoenix - would meet Kitty Pryde and attempt to recruit her into the X-Men, only to be ambushed by the Hellfire Club,[53] and how the Hellfire Club manipulated Jean into becoming its Black Queen,[54] inadvertently unleashing her Dark Phoenix persona[55] and ultimately leading her to sacrifice her life.[56]

With Scott's recollection complete, he offers his condolences for Jean's parents. Lilandra offers them as well and gives the Greys a gift: A holomatrix globe that will fill them with Jean's essence whenever they touched it.

After most of the mourners have left, Scott informs the Professor and his team mates that he is quitting the X-Men. The Professor understands and wishes Scott the best of luck, remarking on how proud he is of him.

But just as one X-Men leaves their ranks, a new one arrives. A cab pulls up in front of Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and out comes Kitty Pride who sits on the steps waiting for the X-Men to come home from the funeral.

Notes

  • This is the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga, which began in X-Men #129.
  • Scott's recollections slightly contradict the published adventures: He states that he and Jean began dating the same night that Angel introduced the team to his longtime girlfriend Candy Southern and the same night that Professor X was kidnapped by the evil Factor Three in X-Men #32-33. While it was well established by that point that Scott and Jean had feelings for each other, the issues in question do not actually contain the scene as it happens in Scott's recollections here. He says he will admit his feelings for her soon, but does not. Furthermore, in X-Men #48, Scott pretends to be Jean's boyfriend to scare off an unwanted suitor and as part of their cover, indicating that at least at that point they were not yet involved. Scott is likely engaging in wishful thinking on how he would have wanted to start dating Jean earlier.
  • As Scott's recollections depict, he and Jean as members of the original X-Men constantly desired each other without admitting their feelings. Not Brand Echh #4 and What The--?! Summer Special #1 satirize their melodrama.
  • Claremont-ism: Scott: "Jean I love you!" Jean: "And I you, Scott, with all my heart."
  • The tombstone lists Jean Grey's birthdate as 1956, making her 24 years old at this point. This is of course an example of the sliding timescale of Earth-616; otherwise Jean would have been seven years old in X-Men #1 (1963).
  • The holocrystal reappears in Fantastic Four #286, Uncanny X-Men #199 and 201, and X-Men Annual #14.

Trivia

  • In the originally intended storyline, in which Jean survived her bout as Dark Phoenix, there would have been an alternate framing sequence in which Scott reminisces while taking a walk with Jean. The original splash page artwork, depicting Scott and Jean together, was included as a bonus feature in Phoenix: The Untold Story #1.
  • With this issue, the cover price rises to 50 cents.
  • This issue's cover was later parodied in New Mutants #99 and Ultimate X-Men #80.

See Also

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